While De Niro was by all accounts only a very modest troublemaker, the gang provided him with experience to skillfully portray Italian mobsters as an actor. 41 in Greenwich Village, De Niro proved to be uninterested in school altogether and, as a teenager, joined a rather tame Italian street gang that gave him the nickname 'Bobby Milk,' in reference to his pale complexion. However, feeling overwhelmed and unprepared for the intense and competitive atmosphere, he dropped out to attend public school after only a few days. Soon after, he was accepted at New York's prestigious High School of Music and Art, an institution specializing in visual and performance arts. De Niro's mother worked part-time as a typist and copyeditor for Maria Picator's Dramatic Workshop, and as part of her compensation, De Niro was allowed to take children's acting classes for free.Īt the age of 10, De Niro made his stage debut as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz.

He was especially taken with films starring Swedish actress Greta Garbo. As his father remained singularly devoted to his art, De Niro was raised primarily by his mother, who took on work as a typesetter and printer to support her son.Ī bright and energetic child, De Niro was incredibly fond of attending movies with his father when they spent time together. nevertheless split ways in 1945, when young DeNiro was only two years old. Known as the 'golden couple' of the New York art circle, Virginia and Robert Sr.

His father, Robert De Niro Sr., was a painter, sculptor and poet whose work received high critical acclaim. His mother, Virginia Admiral, was a cerebral and gifted painter, a Berkeley graduate who made a significant name for herself in the 1940s and 1950s New York art scene. His parents were both respected artists who had met while attending Hans Hoffman's famed Provincetown painting classes. was born on August 17, 1943, in New York City. He more recently won acclaim for his work on Silver Linings Playbook (2012), garnering the seventh Oscar nod of his career. In the 1990s, De Niro saw continued success with such films as Goodfellas and Analyze This. He went on to make several other critically acclaimed films, including The Deer Hunter (1978) and scored his second Academy Award for Raging Bull (1980). De Niro's role in The Godfather: Part II (1974) brought him his first Academy Award. He then worked with many acclaimed film directors, including Brian De Palma, Elia Kazan and, most importantly, Martin Scorsese. Actor Robert De Niro left school at age 16 to study acting with Stella Adler.

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